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82 : Śramaņa, Vol 66, No. 1, January-March 2015 Jainism encourages spiritual development through cultivation of one's own personal wisdom and reliance on self-control through vows. The five ācāras (Pañcācāras) of Jainism— Jñānācāra, Darśanācāra, Căritrācāra, Tapācāra, Viryācāra - provide the path for attaining liberation from the cycles of birth and death. Just as in the life of a Sādhu such great vows as non- violence constitute the path of renunciation, the sādhu must pursue the path of the Pañcācāra in order to attain qualities like knowledge, development etc. and a śrāvaka can also follow this path to some extent. Śrāvakācāra Jainism preached by the Jina, consists of Right Belief (samyagdịști or samyaktva), Right Knowledge (samyag-jñāna), and Right Conduct (samyak-cāritra), which together, in proper combination, lead to liberation or emancipation. Right Belief means perfect faith in the six substances (dravyas), seven principles (tattvas), etc., that mainly go to formulate the dogmas of this religion. Right Knowledge means accurate knowledge of all these substances, principles, etc; and Right Conduct, which is based on, or which is to be practised after the accomplishment of the first two. The ethical discipline or code of conduct is prescribed in two separate forms: The first, for the monk, known as yatyācāra, and the other for the layman or śrāvaka, known as śrāvakācāra. Jainism, originating from the Śramanic way of thought and life, must have had its followers in due course of time. What was the exact nature of the religion-spiritual and social life of the laity in the earliest period of its history? We have no means to ascertain. But this much is certain, that the Jina admitted the laity along with their natural inability to adopt a discipline of complete self-control and harder modes of spiritual pursuit; and, hence, the lay life was designed as a stage preparatory to the ascetic life for the realization of the highest goal, and at the same time, making it complementary to the monastic life. This is evident in the nature of the social organization, i.e., the Jaina-sangha with its prescribed two-fold code of conduct; one for the monastic life, and the other for the lay life, the outlines
